Scores of parents left frustrated by placement crisis in Gauteng

As schools welcomed learners back into the classroom on Wednesday, more than 2,500 learners in Gauteng are still awaiting placement, leaving children and parents frustrated.

Scores of parents gathered at various district offices in Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni, scrambling to secure space for their children for the 2026 academic year.

The Gauteng Department of Education has committed to finalising Grade 1 placements by the end of the week, while also working to accommodate Grade 8 learners, despite ongoing capacity constraints at many schools.

The late application window, which closes at the end of the month, has already received more than 11, 000 applications already. The department attributes the backlog to rapid population growth and limited school infrastructure.

One parent says she’s been struggling since October last year.

“My issue is that I’ve been to Benoni yesterday. We queued from 10 o’clock in the morning till half past five. When I got to the front of the queue, the people,  they kind of treated you like you don’t know what to do, like you don’t know what’s going on.  And I really don’t know what’s going on  because they put you from pillar to post,” she said.

“I’m not going to drive 60 kilometres a day to Kempton Park to go and drop my son at school and then come back home.  Like, what is the point?  They’re going to pay for my petrol, I don’t think so. We cannot work like this. Why do we pay taxes to the people who are helping us, but no one helps us?”

ACDP councillor in Ekurhuleni, Palesa Yates, says the crisis has been worsened by a lack of new schools.

“Learners need to be able to focus on their schoolwork without having to worry about suitable placements or safety concerns. Unfortunately, only one public school has been built in the last eight years, although the number of learners has increased by tens of thousands over that period,” she said.

Yates also raised security concerns in school, particularly in the townships.

“In November last year, the principal and an administrator of Inxiweni Primary School in Tembisa were shot dead on school premises. The deputy principal of Dinoto Technical Secondary School in Daveyton was also shot as he entered the school gate in the same month,” Yates said. “Ekurhuleni schools deserve better from the Gauteng Department of Education.”

The placement crisis is not limited to Gauteng, with provinces such as the Western Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga also grappling with similar challenges.

More than 7,500 learners across the Western Cape province are still awaiting placement, while in Limpopo, approximately 2,000 pupils remain unplaced.

This school placement thing is a mess, the line outside the Western Cape DOE right now is ridiculous with parents even on camp chairs as they want placement for their kids.

— Indy (@Indy078) January 14, 2026

I must say, this is the second placement that has not been done for my Son. Grade 1 and grade 8 placements are a nightmare and purely because those individuals who work with placements at the district’s sell spaces for R500 and upwards. The corruption there

— Lefa (@Mmalefa10) January 13, 2026

GDE is failing us .Our children still not placed by today 14 January.They place our children at schools we didn’t choose.We were asked to choose 3 schools when we apply but I was told to take my child to school 20km away from my resident whiles schools I apply at are 10 km .

— Thapedi Matsiane (@ThapediMatsiane) January 14, 2026

Extremely frustrating that we can’t get school placements. Applied well in advance, yet “All Boys schools”are already full.

How is this acceptable? The system is failing families.

This is exactly how unregistered institutions strive!!

— ParrotOS (@MokoenaDee) January 14, 2026